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Well, over Christmas I’ve noticed some tiny changes in my 9 1/2 year old daughter. She is in the early stages of puberty. Before I can wrap my brain around all this she brings a letter home that her school is going to be watching a video on sex education. Wow! We’ve had numerous discussions on puberty and body changes for her since she was 3. However, I have not delved into the world of sex education yet and thought I had a little more time. Now I’m reading books on how to approach the subject. A friend recommended a book by Kevin Leman, called a chicken’s guide to talking turkey about sex. I am impressed just by reading the first chapter. I wasn’t sure if it would take a bury your head in the sand approach as a good number of Christians and adults seem too but it is very blunt and I am getting very helpful parenting advice.

My parents never really said anything about puberty or sex other than “don’t have sex before your married.” So when I became a parent I spoke with my husband and we decided we were going to be open, honest and delve into this as a family conversation. I want her to be comfortable with her body through these changes and understand it’s normal. I want her to feel she can come to us at any time and ask any thing she wants. I feel like as a parent you need to research, learn and grow. This is a topic that is so new to me as far as teaching my children so I want to get it right.

Almost everyone I have spoken with said their parents never said anything about sex or puberty we all learned it from TV or our friends. I want my relationship with my daughers to be different. So I am very nervous but I will it’s important and hopefully it will get easier when my now five year old goes through this in a four or five years.

Our school allows us to watch the video they are showing before our children will view it so I am going to do that. If it lines up with our values and what I would be discussing with her then she can view it. I definitely do not want her getting wrong information from her friends.

I cannot believe my first born is old enough to be learning and going through this already. Time flies so quickly and she’ll be graduating high school before I know it.

My oldest daughter just turned 9 and her pediatrician recommended a great book about your body and puberty. It’s by Lynda Madison and part of the American Girl Collection. The book is The Caring and Keeping of You Collection. The only part I did not care for is the eating disorder section. Otherwise, I think it is a great book through a kids point of view on how your body changes and ways to take care of your body. I have talked to Pookie since she was little about body changes but it would be good for her to ease her mind about the changes that will be going on.

If she is trying to break away from her wholesome Hannah Montana image, she certainly does in this video. I think parents and teens alike will be shocked by this new video. They have compared her to Brittney and I have to ask the question also, “Is Miley too sexy too soon?” She is only 17 yet she looks quite older in this video. Here is the new video by Miley Cyrus “can’t be tamed”. Here is the 4-1-1 on this new video from Fox News.

Entertainment Tonight came on as I was passing by the TV. My jaw dropped open as I heard Miley Cyrus is posing topless for Vanity Fair and her dad is right there for it all. Hello, she is 15. She is a role model for little girls, tweens and teens everywhere. I am so appalled that a parent would let their child pose topless or nude for anyone. We purposely keep our girls away from this stuff just because 5 and 6 year olds should not be thinking about boys and relationships which is what most of her music is about. As a father how could he let her do this. I don’t care if her arm is covering her breasts this is absurd to say the least. There are also racy photos of her that are all over the internet where she is posed with some guy and half naked. Some of her Disney friends are speaking out that she is just a Diva and that is what Divas do but that is crazy. I really thought she was different but it seems she is just another Brittany.

Update: Well, today on the Today show Miley is apologizing because of the racy photos in Vanity Fair. She says, “I am embarrassed.” She said she was tricked into taking them by the photographer and they were supposed to be an artistic expression. The magazine said her managers and parents were there the whole time. The most provocative was the one where she does appear topless but her back is turned. I don’t care if you see breasts or not for a star who is a role model for young girls and promotes her self as a good girl, etc. the appearance of the pictures is most disturbing. I am glad that moms and dads are standing up saying something. No one seemed to care that Jamie Lynn Spears got pregnant and she was also a role model for this same age group so finally someone stands up to say, if you are a role model and pride yourself in purity then you should act in accordance of that message.

However, I will cut the girl and her parents some slack. I think it was a bad judgment call on her part. Her father, mother and little sister had actually left and Miley stayed to finish up. Her grandmother and teacher were on the set so someone should have stopped her but she gave into the photographer who suggested the provacative photos. They say at the time Miley did not see anything wrong with it, it was an “artistic expression”. However as I said before for hundreds of girls around the world who are looking up to her, this was a foolish choice. Her apology is noble and I am sure in time this will blow over. Hopefully she will make wiser decisions in the future.